Hey vj, Check out this link: This is from Amazon and gives a comprehensive review of PF from a devoted fan. It is a pretty good read and could answer some of your questions about the band.
Umma Gumma will also make you think the Wall isn't really all that spacy at all. I second the vote for Animals.
I like Pink Floyd, but I share vj23k's lack of enthusiasm about The Wall. I've never been a big fan of "rock operas" and the whole thing seems ham-fisted, pompous and over-indulgent. The music as a whole leaves me cold, though I'm not sure if I could tell you why. Too bombastic I guess. What I've always like about earlier Pink Floyd Albums (save the Syd Barret stuff which is really like listening to a completely different band) is that it paints a calm picture with rumblings of discontent just under the surface. A song like Fearless on Meddle is essentially saying "**** you - watch me prove you wrong", but the music is so pretty and laid back that the message loses all of its abrasiveness. I like that kind of contrast in music. Pink Floyd was at their best when there was a balance between Roger Waters' lyrical frustration and David Gilmour's peaceful musical leanings. Once the balance got thrown off (The Wall and The Final Cut), Pink Floyd's music got too preachy and angry. On the flip side, once David Gilmour took over the band, Pink Floyd became lame, new age music (my Mom - hardly a fan of edgy music - accurately compared The Division Bell to Yanni).
damn all this pink floyd talk makes me want to put in wizard of oz...i think ill wait until after the ut game. i love pink floyd. id have to vote for wish you were here. i like momentary lapse of reason, the wall and dark side of the moom equally.
Thanks again for the suggestions...I was about to buy Dark Side of the Moon before I realized that I had not bought all of the presents I needed to. I did, however, get to listen to it at the store, and it sounded a lot more like something I would like. I, of course, could not really get into the music just standing in the store, but it sounded great. That link from Amazon really covered the history...thanks Manny. I also did some reading at allmusic.com (Which is a great website that provides a biography of all the artists that it lists).
Deckard, that's one hell of a concert on the old resume! God, "The Wall" is about their most accessible album. I like "Meddle" (it has the awesome "One of the Days" on it) and "Animals" a lot, but if "The Wall" is spacey to you, then these will sound like the entire Milky Way. Which is good, I would say. I really love the Syd Barret penned "See Emily Play," so I need to check out their first album (isn't that "Piper at the Gates of Dawn?") Any Floyd-ites have any opinion on this one?
Dark Side > everything "Eclipse" has got to be one of the greatest endings to an album, ever. I get chills every time I listen to it.
